Gateways
by Kharishma
Summary: Genesis and Annihilation. Eight rangers are chosen to face Death, but first they must find it, and their journey will lead them through many different worlds. Will they succeed and how will Death take it?


**Disclaimer:** As always, ownership of the characters is not mine, they aren't even mine in my own imagination. Disney owns power Rangers, I believe.

**Author's Note:** This is the story I started in my government class…. when I should have been paying attention, but I got an A so…I think I'm okay. It really is obscure and out there… but that makes the best stories right? Well I'm not sure if I'll be able to continue this, but I have this urge to share what I have, even if I did get writer's block. So, basically enjoy.

* * *

Beginnings. 

Before him was only darkness. For as long as he can remember he seemed to have been standing here staring into this endless abyss. _Today is the day._ As if he had said this out loud a table surrounded with chairs appeared before him. Like with him the table emitted a light seemingly from within itself. The young man took his seat at the head.

Suddenly he turned his head slightly to the left speaking into the nothingness, "Please have a seat." Unlike the table, the figure of a woman appeared gradually from the shadows. Blue eyes meeting silver ones as she hesitantly took a seat away from the young man. He noticed the light pink hair barrette hidden in her blonde locks, the only form of color she was wearing he noted. The rest of her outfit consisted of black leather, giving her a dangerous appearance in contrast to her shy demeanor.

She looked in her lap before facing the young man at the opposite end of the table. "Where am I?" Her voice echoed against their black walls and at the same time didn't.

The white haired youth before her opened his mouth but was suddenly interrupted by the moan of another man, his form arriving abruptly as if being thrown into the room by invisible captors. Dirt smudges lined his face, acknowledging the fact that he was in a fight. Steadily he lifted himself up, a small hand grasping his biceps in an attempt to help him up.

"Are you alright?" A strongly accented voice offered. The young man clad in black faced his compassionate aid. Deep blue eyes stared back at him. Her grey outfit giving her a plain façade, but her strong grip gave away a secret unseen to the world.

"Fine," he said catching his breath. They knew each other, the thought crossed each of their minds, but once he had spoken it was as if she changed before his eyes and he was now starring at a stranger.

A chuckle caused them to both look in the direction of a young man clad in a white lab coat. "Good because I don't have any equipment with me to heal you," his baritone voice shared. He, as well, stared at the couple as he helped the Asian boy to a seat. Adjusting his spectacles he pulled out the chair next to him offering it to the blonde. She gratefully took it.

Another couple entered at this point, each from different points of the room. The girl, the youngest it seemed, took note of the others sitting and immediately sat down as well. Her brown eyes looked around under the dark eyeliner. The boy on the other hand crossed his arms over his chest, not recognizing any of the people before him. Unfortunately for him, he found himself on the ground seconds later, another young man lying on top of him. A blush formed on the face of the younger, yellow clad man, once he noticed the lack of clothing on the man on top of him.

"Sorry," a raspy voice let out. Slowly but surely the two got up, and a confused expression crossed the shirtless youth. His eyes passed across the blonde in the familiar leather outfit and just as suddenly several emotions passed through him; not knowing which one to express. He looked around sensing the oddity of the situation. Yet there were no worries, everyone looked to be fine in this place nowhere.

Familiar strangers they were. The young doctor adjusted his glasses again as he looked around at each of his companions, resting finally on the oldest present, "Why have we been brought here, Zordan?" Such a simple question – but minds went racing. Many wondered how the youth before them could be this – Zordan.

Grinning from ear to ear, he spoke again in an unrecognizable accent, "We have one more guest to wait for before I can start explaining."

As if on cue a cloaked figure appeared opposite "Zordan," wielding a staff made of some form of metal. Once again a chuckle emitted from Zordan, "Always one for the dramatics Chancellor."

A gloved hand unveiled the final stranger to be a young woman, probably right out of high school with raven locks and an innocence that made someone question her frailty. But the knowing coldness of her eyes gave away her child-like appeal. "Your notice came at a dire time," her rich voice impressed.

"I apologize, but the time has come," the sparkle left his silver eyes, as he stared at the teenager grimly. "You are all here because you were chosen. Your lives and the lives of infinitely every person to ever exist is at risk, and you are to save them."

The silence that followed him completing the sentence was deafening. "And how are we supposed to do that?" The yellow clad girl said incredulously. The break in the silence caused an up roar of questions coming from left and right of the table. Only three figures stayed calm in the events.

The young doctor leaned over to his other silent companion, whispering into her ear, "Looks like this is going to be a long day." He leaned back his chair and got comfortable. The blonde looked over at him, a swarm of questions also going through her head, but years of etiquette lessons reminded her not only was it rude to yell and talk when others were, but it did not help the situation. She merely nodded her head to her neighbor and turned her attention back to the commotion.

"Quiet!" The raven-haired youth yelled over all the voices. Everyone turned looking at her, mouths closed. Deep brown eye looked at each of the enraged, and finally making it to Zordan's. "Please continue, Zaire."

The sparkle returned, internally happy with Fate's choice. "Thank you Chancellor." He stood from his seat, walking back into the darkness. The others were going to protest his leaving when another table appeared, toped with various items.

"As you all have heard of the Power Rangers in one form or another… These are your keys. What power you will hold is all up to Destiny." He looked down picking up a pink barrette very similar to one he noted before. Instantly he knew who to give this to. "Karone," he spoke, looking to the leather clad blonde. She stood, slowly looking around at the others. Hesitantly she made her way over to Zaire. "This is your power source, wear it well, and careful not to loose it." As he handed her the barrette the pink faded away into black, matching the surrounding darkness. Something inside told her to put it on, and carefully taking out the one already on her head, she placed the newly black barrette into her golden blonde hair.

Feeling more at ease, Karone walked back to the table with more confidence than she had on her way up. Zaire took this as a means to move on. The next item was a plain wristwatch with a shiny blue face; so blue it was almost tacky. "Dr. Cranston," he began, the young doctor reacted instantly, following the lead Karone had set, walking over to Zaire as well and patiently waited for what was to come. "Billy, I originally chose you because I knew you were special, each and every one of you." Just as with Karone, when the watch was handed over the deep blue changed into a clean crisp white.

"Thank you, Zord… I mean Zaire." Billy shook Zaire's hand and walked back over to the table with the others. He removed his "communicator," which was a sleek silver band with a square watch face and several small buttons along the side, and replaced it with this new watch.

White, Zaire thought it was an interesting choice. He smiled picking up the next item, it was another watch, a pocket watch gleaming all in gold. He didn't even turn around when he spoke the name of its owner, "Wes." He looked around shocked, his mind troubled by the idea of being here. Making his way over to this legend, he realized he was still lacking a shirt. A hand on his shoulder caused him to stop, and Wes found himself only inches in front of Zaire. If not for Zaire's hand he would have walked right into the other man. Oddly enough the contact with Wes caused the pocket watch's face to change into a forest green from the brilliant gold it previously was. Placing the watch into Wes' hands Zaire spoke confidently, "There will be time to discuss, much time."

Wes didn't even get a chance to sit, when the next item was picked up, a pair of yellow dangling earrings. They were intricately designed with several topaz stones all hanging in rows to get the actual color to show. "Kira," was all Zaire had to say and she made her way down as well. Never to have actually worked with her all he could really say was, "It is an honor, my rangers have chosen well." With nowhere else to put them, Kira put on the once yellow earrings. The quietly aquamarine blue hanging from her ears contrasted with her outfit, but that did not concern her at the moment.

The next few items were not so obvious. An orange turned gold wristband that went to Dustin, the defensive yellow clad young man. A dull grey bracelet that would later be clean silver with hanging amethysts all around for the Chancellor Cassandra, one of the youngest among the group. Adam would be offered an onyx black cellular phone, but would discover it to be Red after his very brief chat with Zaire. The room was still as silent as ever, and more questions were crowding the air among them.

Zaire looked down at the table, a lone necklace, a dazzling golden chain with a deep ruby hanging off the end. He picked it up and turned to meet the demure women, her deep blue eyes staring into his own silver ones. "Katherine," he let out almost surprised at how up front she was, the confidence was good.

"I assumed this were mine, considering I am the only one to not have a key," she informed him. She lifted up her flaxen blonde hair and turned around. Zaire helped put it on, and once she turned around he was surprised to find the gold was now incandescent platinum and the ruby was a luminous diamond. "Thank you," she smiled, making her way back to the others, ready to just move on.

Zaire followed behind her, the table disappearing the further he got from it. "The color chooses the ranger," he began, trying to explain what he could at the moment. "Whether you were a ranger or not, your former colors, the original colors of the keys, were given to you. These are your true colors. Dr. Cranston your color is white, Adam red, Katherine platinum, Chancellor purple, Karone black, Wesley green, Dustin gold, and Kira blue. Why these colors have been chosen for you, you will have to discover on your own."

"What exactly are we fighting against?" Katherine spoke up first.

"Death. Death has taken a living form and it out to cause the annihilation of all living beings to ever exist – in any universe. No one has seen it, nor do we know where to find it. All that have gone have not come back… on our side that is." Zaire spoke in a grave tone.

"Again, how are **we** supposed to do this?" Kira said apprehensively, her nerves getting to her at this point.

The Chancellor stood, her deep purple eyes looked over at her, "We have been chosen, we are the best at what we do. Even if it seems impossible for us to complete this mission, we have to try and believe we can. All worlds depend on it."

"Thank you again, Chancellor." Zaire nodded in approval. "You have been chosen, again I do not have the answers as to why, but you all must have something special that pulled you apart from many other rangers. Trust in this decision."

They all nodded. This conformation seemed to have been noticed by some unknown force because a light shown from somewhere behind the group. They all turned to find a glowing door waiting the chosen rangers. "Your quest begins now, I believe." Zaire made a gesture to the door.

Cassie was the first to make her way to the door, walking over and right through the door without a second thought. Wes and Dustin were quick to follow. Kira was a little hesitant still, but Adam reassured her with a hand on her shoulder and a quick smile as he walked in before her. Karone looked at the other three people in the room before heading in herself. Billy, Katherine and Zaire were the only ones left. Billy waited patiently near the door as Katherine approached Zaire, "Will we ever see **you** again?"

"As certain as this room is dark," he smiled giving her a quick hug and ushering her through the door with Billy. A feeling within her was unsettling as she walked through the door. The room wasn't dark though…. at least she didn't believe it to be. Her eyebrows crinkled together as she made one last look behind her to Zaire. He was the only light surround by the darkness, and slowly he disappeared within it.

As she turned to look ahead, she found grass and trees in front of her. The most beautiful scenery, and the last she thought she would have had a chance to see. The sky was a rich yellow, red, and purple as the two suns rose above them all. The rest of the rangers were looking around in awe at the beauty of the area. A large city was below, all kinds of technological advancements engulfed it, but the most surprising thing was the castle in the center of the city. It was a large medieval looking castle, contrasting the city, which contrasted with the forestry around it.

"Where are we?" Wes questioned, thinking all of this came from some weird fairy tale.

Katherine walked ahead of the other rangers, speaking loud enough for them all to hear, "This is my home." There was excitement and sadness mixed in her tone, but she just kept walking; explanations would have to come later.

* * *

Well this is it. I promise not to start anything else till I get a chance to work on _From Australia, With Love_ and _When We Were Gods_, which are both coming alone really well. I apologize for how rushed it felt towards the end, I got tired of how long it was taking to get them to Kat's home, so now I'm a little happier. 

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Please review.

Kharishma


End file.
